Morella's Forest: Bass (1994 Demo): Limited Edition CD EP in Eco-Wallet

Limited Edition CDR in Eco-Wallet w/ resealable outer bag
Preorder item. Available September 25, 2026

By the fall of 1993, Morella's Forest had already recorded their first rough document, the scrappy Bozur demo, and something was clearly clicking. Bass is the second cassette, and the one that sealed it. Recorded and mixed at The Main Sound by Catherine Applegate and Mike Sievers and produced by Pete Holiday, the five songs here find the band sharpening their identity: Sydney Rentz's vocals drifting like smoke over walls of distortion, Shawn Johnson's guitars smearing color across every frequency, and the McCorkle rhythm section holding down a groove that is, as Tooth & Nail's own listener survey apparently noted, "very groovy — cool bass sounds."

That feedback was real: Bass is the demo that Morella's Forest sent to Tooth & Nail Records in hopes of getting signed. The handwritten response from the label, rating the music "above average," praising its Medicine- and Curve-like qualities, and noting that Tooth & Nail wanted more information plus a first EP, is now the stuff of underground legend. They got signed.

The five tracks here; Lush of Spring, Electric Belt, Oceania, Green & Violet Wavecaps, and EsQue (Version 1), represent a band on the edge of a breakthrough. Two of them, Lush of Spring and Oceania, would later appear on the 1995 Tooth & Nail debut Superdeluxe. Oceania also appeared on Tooth & Nail's early sampler compilations, becoming one of the more sought-after tracks from the label's first wave. The rest of this material has remained largely inaccessible since the original cassette went out of print decades ago.

Now officially reissued for the first time on CD,  limited to 100 first-run copies, housed in an eco-wallet and packaged in a resealable outer bag, Bass has been restored from the original demo tape and remastered for 2026 by Chris Colbert, preserving the warmth of the source while giving these recordings the clarity they deserve. Tape provided by Dave Palmer of Pop Vox Records. New packaging design by Cameron George.

For fans of Lush, Slowdive, Medicine, Curve, The Breeders, and Starflyer 59.